When the Washington Wizards acquired Dwight Howard in the offseason, the belief was that he might actually cause further disruption to a locker room that was already close to falling apart. But as it turns out, Dwight Howard's debut might be the only positive takeaway from the Wizard's disastrous 2018-2019 campaign, to date.
Dwight Howard's long-awaited debut against the Oklahoma City Thunder did nothing to weather the storm. The supplement boost of his 20 points in 23 minutes couldn't compensate for the lack of cohesion displayed by his teammates. The home crowd in Washington could sense it as well; they finally turned on their beloved Wizards, booing them intermittently over the course of the night, including a boo-filled sendoff as they exited the court with the 134-111 scoreline etched into the books.
In an attempt to show a single thread of hope after seeing his team drop to 1-7, shooting guard Bradley Beal filled the leadership void in a post-game interview. "I'm not hitting the panic button. I'm not hitting it, and I don't think we are either as a team," he said. "We understand it's still early, it's not perfect. We understand patience is running low from everybody, from ourselves. Nobody is more disappointed than us. I'm definitely going to say that."
The Wizards face the Knicks tomorrow, at the risk of getting booed once again by their home crowd.
